Dmitry Medvedev

Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (14 September 1965-) was President of Russia from 7 May 2008 to 7 May 2012 (interrupting Vladimir Putin's terms) and Prime Minister of Russia from 8 May 2012 (succeeding Putin). He was a member of the United Russia party, and he alternated power with Putin as a way to circumvent constitutional term limits.

Biography
Dmitry Medvedev was born in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union in 1965, and he entered into politics during the 1980s, when he headed his professor Anatoly Sobchak's successful parliamentary campaign in 1988; he would later go on to work for Sobchak during his mayorship in Saint Petersburg in the 1990s. Medvedev himself became a teacher at Saint Petersburg State University, and he founded a small law consultancy firm with two friends. He went on to become a stockholder in the successful Ilim Pulp Enterprise timber company, and he was appointed to Vladimir Putin's presidential staff, as they had known each other since they had both worked for Sobchak. He managed Putin's 2000 presidential re-election campaign, and he served as Chairman of Gazprom from 2002 to 2008, restructuring its debts and turning it from a $7.8 million business in 2000 to a $300 billion business in 2008.

Presidency
Despite holding more liberal and pro-Western views than Putin, he emerged as a frontrunner in the race to succeed the term-limited Putin as President in 2008, and Putin surprised observers when he chose Medvedev as his preferred successor on 10 December 2007. Medvedev won with 70.28% of the vote in the first time in Russian history that a politically strong and healthy leader willingly turned powers to a similarly vigorous leader. He appointed Sergey Naryshkin to head his administration, and he also appointed Putin as his Prime Minister. He and Putin were in charge of a "tandemocracy" in which they worked in tandem, but Putin - who initially wanted to step back and give Medvedev more freedom - intervened due to the onset of the Great Recession from 2007 to 2008 and the start of the brief Russo-Georgian War in 2008. Medvedev himself oversaw a wide-ranging modernization programme in both society and the economy, lessening the country's reliance on oil and gas. His tenure saw victory in the war with Georgia and recovery from the Great Recession, and he also initiated a substantial law enforcement reform and an anti-corruption campaign.

Premiership
In 2011, Medvedev - in accordance with his power-switching deal with Putin - agreed to not run for a second term in office, supporting Putin as his successor as President in a move backed by the Russian Orthodox Church. On 7 May 2012, the same day that Medvedev left office as President, Putin nominated Medvedev to serve as his Prime Minister, and the State Duma confirmed his nomination in a 299-144 vote. He oversaw tough legislation on smoking in public areas, price increases for alcoholic beverages, stricter punishment for drunk drivers, and an increase in the retirement age from 55/60 to 63/65.